I'm having so much fun playing this thing that I can't bring myself to remove the strings and continue with sanding. The bass tone is really something. Also, the tone of the wound strings between the 3 and 8th frets ... hard to put into words .... I have never heard a guitar sound quite so ....organic? I showed it to a tech friend and asked if the tone was because of the wooden frets, and he replied "probably". Right Mike? ( if you're still following this )

I have sanded the soundboard and back to smooth out the chisel marks made from thinning the front and back. I have glued a small bit of Sapelle veneer to the cutaway area and I am pleased with the results. I have been looking for some sort of epoxy that I can paint on the edges ( like a binding ) to protect the veneer and mahogany laminate edge. I have picked up a can of 3m fibreglass resin and tried it tonight on a sample.... works well. Now I can finish up with the veneer around the outsides, and protect it right away with the resin. Pictures coming.

I went a slightly different direction and went for a folding neck. The only hinge I could find was a loss hinge, which has a little too much slop in it for my liking, but it plays well. After folding and re-fixing in place it is still surprisingly well in tune, just a little sharper on a couple of strings.